I just finished a book
The Pentagon's New Map by Thomas P. M. Barnett, a strategist for the
Navy and Defense Department, in which he talks about America's role in
the world, with concepts such as exporting rule-sets to the world, and
dividing the world into "core" and "gap" countries.

Overall, what he presented
challenged some of my assumptions about America's role in the world. I
was wondering if the same ends he describes, e.g. peace in our lifetime,
could be achieved in more freedom-oriented ways that you have figured
out.

I commend this book to
your reading, and if you have time, I would be interested in your
thoughts.

Unfortunately, because of the book I'm currently writing, I can't spare
any time for reading books that aren't related to my current project.

However, from what the email-writer said, I would guess that Thomas
Barnett has never bothered to examine the history of government programs
— and the sad record of failure
after failure after failure. It isn't just the War on Drugs or the War on
Poverty or the War on Illiteracy that has failed to fulfill its promises.
There hasn't been a single American war in this century or the last in which
the U.S. government actually achieved the results that were promised when it
went to war.

Here's a brief overview . . .

World

WarI

Objective:

Bring democracy to all the countries of the world,
self-determination for everyone, and a new world order that would end wars
forever.

Result:

American entry into the war prevented the two sides
from negotiating a just end to the war. Instead, the Allies saw American
entry as decisive, and so they rejected all peace overtures, fought the war
to a bitter end, won the war, and imposed devastating, humiliating peace
terms on Germany.

The result was an expansion of the British and French empires, subjecting
millions more people worldwide to foreign rule. In addition, millions of
Europeans were herded into foreign countries.

The U.S. entry into the European war prompted the Germans to finance and
facilitate Lenin's takeover of Russia —
creating the Soviet Union. And the oppressive peace terms imposed on the
German people caused them to accept a thug named Adolf Hitler as their
avenging angel. Thus U.S. entry into the war was responsible for what many
call the two worst regimes in world history — and the cause of 52 years of
wars from 1939 to 1991.

World

WarII

Objective:

Liberate Europe and China, and impose peace upon
the world.

Result:

Half of Europe was controlled by the Soviet Union, and
China was quickly taken over by the Communists.

The

ColdWar

Objective:

Free subjugated countries.

Result:

In the process of "fighting" the Cold War,
Iran's
democracy was overthrown with the help of the CIA
— leaving the Iranians subjugated
by the oppressive Shah. That's just one example, however. The U.S.
government imposed or assisted dictators in Panama, the Dominican Republic,
Venezuela, Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cuba, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq,
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, China, South Korea, South Vietnam, the
Philippines, and numerous countries in Africa.

The

KoreanWar

Objective:

Save South Korea from being taken over by an
oppressive dictatorship.

Result:

South Korea was left in the hands of an oppressive
dictator, Syngman Rhee, who was just as oppressive as the communist North
Korean dictator, Kim Il Sung.

The

VietnamWar

Objective:

Save Indochina from Communism, and prevent dominos
from falling all over the world.

Result:

Indochina was overrun by communists. (Surprisingly,
the world didn't come to an end.)

The

PanamanianWar

Objective:

Stop Panama from being a conduit for drug-running.

Result:

The Panamanian army was destroyed, leaving the country
more vulnerable to drug-running.

The

FirstIraqWar

Objective:

Free Kuwait and stop Saddam Hussein from taking
over the world. (Seriously, George H.W. Bush called him a modern-day Hitler,
who had to be stopped the way Hitler should have been stopped at Munich.) At
the end of the war, George H.W. Bush called on the Iraqis to overthrow
Hussein.

Result:

Kuwait is still run by a family dynasty that has no
interest in democracy or in providing rights for the people. Apparently,
Saddam Hussein wasn't stopped from his diabolical plans of world domination
— at least according to George
H.W. Bush's son 11 years later. And
Bush
Sr. helped put down the postwar rebellion that would have overthrown
Hussein.

The Bombing of Serbia

Objective: End the
ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo, perpetrated by the Serbs.

So while Mr. Barnett's objectives may be attractive, they are irrelevant
— since the odds against the U.S. government actually achieving them are at
least 100 to 1.

The Pentagon will try to export rule-sets to other countries, with no
success (rule-sets that, incidentally, don't apply in the U.S.). If I
understand the terms correctly, the "core" countries will be those whose
rulers agree to do whatever the U.S. President tells them to do, and the
"gap" countries will be those run by rulers who insist on making their own
rules.

There is no way that America can make the entire world peaceful
— or, in fact, any part of the
world
except America itself.

Peace in our Time

We could lift the state of siege in America tomorrow morning if the U.S.
would simply stop meddling in other countries' affairs.

The supposed "hate America" feeling is really the fear that America is
going to come into one's country and throw its weight around
— as it has in Afghanistan, the
Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Somalia, Libya, Colombia, Nicaragua, El
Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada, Guatemala, Indonesia,
East Timor, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Pakistan, the Congo, and dozens of
other countries.

The question really is simple: Which do we want . . .

• To have our government make a futile effort to
bring peace and democracy to the world
— in the process generating
such hatred that we live the rest of our lives in a state of siege,
with America becoming progressively more like the chaos that exists in
Israel and the Palestinian territories?

Or

• Bring all the troops home, end all foreign aid
to friends and foes alike, keep out of the affairs of other countries
— and restore the peace and
liberty that America experienced throughout most of the 19th century?

You decide. But when you decide, remember that you're choosing the
inevitable consequences at the same time you choose the objective.